Steelers/NFL Videos

The Steelers will be without linebacker Terence Garvin when they face AFC North rival Cleveland in their regular-season finale at Heinz Field on Sunday.

Garvin sustained a knee injury after stepping in last week when the Steelers were thin at linebacker with the loss of LaMarr Woodley (season-ending calf injury), Jarvis Jones (illness) and Jason Worilds, who left early in the second half at Green Bay with a abdominal injury. Garvin's absence will again test the Steelers' depth at linebacker, which includes Chris Carter and Stevenson Sylvester.

“Right now it's 50-50, and hopefully my knee won't swell up,” Sanders said. “If it doesn't, I'll be in there. You never know how this thing is going to react, but whether or not we make the playoffs, I'd like to go out with a bang.”

Jones, who expects to be back in the starting lineup against the Browns, is one of six players listed as probable. The others are strong safety Troy Polamalu (not injury related), tight end Heath Miller (not injury related), guard David DeCastro (back), defensive end Brett Keisel and wide receiver Markus Wheaton — all of whom were full participants in practice.

• According to a report on ESPN.com , the NFL on Friday night released a statement acknowledging that the officiating crew in the Steelers' 38-31 victory Sunday over the Packers started the game clock early on the last play. “Due to a miscommunication between members of the officiating crew, the game clock was started prematurely on the final play of the game,” the report quotes a statement from a league spokesman as saying. A false start penalty on the Packers led to a 10-second runoff down to 10 seconds remaining in the game. The Packers were able to get off just one play, an incomplete pass in the end zone.

• Tight end Matt Spaeth was fined $7,875 by the NFL for an unnecessary roughness penalty that occurred during the 38-31 victory in Green Bay on Sunday. Spaeth was flagged for a hit on Packers linebacker Jamari Lattimore that came at the end of A.J. Hawk's return of a Ben Roethlisberger-thrown interception. As Antonio Brown tackled Hawk, Spaeth came in from behind Lattimore and drove him into the Packers' bench area. An angry Lattimore jumped up and went at Spaeth after the play. No Packers players were fined.

• Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, who leads the NFL with 1,564 receiving yards, feasted on the Steelers' secondary last month. He had 14 catches for a then-franchise record 237 yards and a touchdown. Still, cornerback Ike Taylor said the Steelers aren't likely to defend Gordon differently. Chicago used the Pittsburgh game film to devise a zone coverage scheme that shut out Gordon in the first half, but he finished with 3 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. “There are games like that, but they didn't stop him the entire game,” Taylor said. “The way we play defense, we'll play a man over him.” Added defensive end Cam Heyward: “The first key will be stopping their run game, which is good by committee. We can't let up, which is what happened in the last game (in Cleveland) that made us a susceptible to Gordon making some big plays.”

• The Steelers' playoff chances hinge on defeating Cleveland, but Keisel will be checking out the scoreboard at Heinz Field. “The bottom line for us to go anywhere is we have to win the game. It's difficult, but we understand what's at stake. The odds were against us last week, but things fell into place. It could happen again. We'll be focused on the game, but we'll be peeping (on the scoreboard) to see what's going on.”

• Guard Ramon Foster said even though the Steelers' playoff odds aren't good, he's thrilled the Steelers are in a position to finish 8-8 after starting 0-4. “The first goal is to get to .500 for the first time this season,” Foster said “The football gods worked overtime last week for us. It's the holiday season, so we'll need them to work time-and-a-half on Sunday.”

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.